Eriogonum kennedyi var. austromontanum

Southern mountain buckwheat

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Threatened

Southern mountain buckwheat is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native perennial found in northern Western Transverse Ranges around Mount Pinos and in the San Bernardino Mountains at elevations of 2,000 to 2,200 meters in gravelly habitats. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces white to pale pink flowers in small compact clusters. Growing as a low, spreading plant about 15 to 35 centimeters in diameter with stems reaching 8 to 15 centimeters tall, it forms a dense, low-growing mat. Its leaves are small, narrow, and densely covered in gray-white woolly hairs, measuring about 6 to 10 millimeters long and less than 2 millimeters wide with flat margins. The compact fruit is approximately 3.5 to 4 millimeters long, contributing to its distinctive low-growing, clustered appearance.

Habitat: Gravel

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 2000-2200 m

Bioregions: n WTR (Mount Pinos), SnBr (Bear Valley).

California counties: San Bernardino, Ventura

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.